WHAT CAN MODERN EDUCATION, LEARN FROM VEDIC EDUCATION SYSTEM?

No one can be called educated who cannot preserve and expand his/her cultural heritage. In this article I try to explain how Vedic style of education can be incorporated into modern education system, in a way, that benefits both the student and the teacher, which in turn benefits India.

What is education?

Culture is the sum total of the accumulated experience and achievements of previous generations inherited by succeeding generations as member of society. And, the structured process of passing on this collective experiences and achievements may be called education. The function of schools is not only to make students knowledgeable, but also to make them cultured, because education develops student’s ideal nature by giving them a moral feeling and enables them to control their original animal nature. So, the ultimate aim of education should not only be to full fill the desire of life, but to also make the student fit to become a useful member of society.   

Falling morals in today’s students

We are living in an age of rapidly scientific and technological changes, which nonetheless have many positive effects on different social groups and across different societies. Much has changed, but one thing that has not changed is imparting knowledge through learning, which is a never ending process. The sad part in all of this is that, modern students are not morally perfect and behave irresponsibly. The reason for this may be that, students are affected directly or indirectly by the social evils such as: idleness, egotism, poverty, sexual disability, materialistic appeals, evil practices, corruption, decline in moral values and destructive politics. This is where Vedic style of education can help, as it has tendency to change the minds and character of the students.  

Gurukuls

In ancient India, the gurukuls; where students resided at guru’s place, were dedicated to achieve the highest ideas to complete student’s development that included physical, mental, spiritual development as well as God realization. The gurukuls were situated at beautiful natural places which were near some rural or urban area to fulfill the daily necessary requirements of the students. This system was free from any sort of consideration of rich and poor, caste and creed, higher or lower etc. Even the children of both rulers and peasants stayed together, and state politics do not interfered in this education system. The students used to seek alms everyday form different houses. They shared their alms with their teacher, and that is how a gurukuls was managed. The society had a lot of reverence to students who were seeking alms for their education.  

Teacher

The pivot of the whole education system of ancient India was teacher. He is also called as acharya, guru and upadhyana on the basis of the function he performed. Acharya is one who performs the upanayana; which marks the acceptance of a student by a teacher. A guru is one who perform the samskaras; mental impression, recollection in Indian Philosophy and Indian religion. And, upadhyana is who teaches a student a portion of the Vedas. The education was mainly through ears and lips and not through writing and reading. This was because writing was considered as inferior, and education through ears and lips had the power to develop cognition, intelligence and strong memory. The subjects that were taught were: religion, ayurveda, vaishaishika, economics, archery, justice, reasoning among others. There was the provision of free education, but after the completion of education money, land, animals, grains etc was given as daksina; it is not a fee, but sort of donation. They treated the student with care, respect, trust and duty. Punishment was given, but was not harsh.      

Student

A prospective student had to convince the teacher that, the student, had the required intelligence, desire, determination and qualities to pursue the studies. The age to begin education was usually eight to twelve, and the time period for studying was twelve years and a student could study only one Veda in that period. The classes were held in the shade of trees and under some shelter during monsoon to ensure that the students are in touch with nature which benefited their physical and mental development. There were certain rules for the students to adhere regarding their daily lives such as: to lead a simple life, wake up early before the day breaks, get freshened up and take bath, and then worship God, and perform havan etc. The students could eat food twice a day. They were asked to follow the rules of self control and discipline. The students have great respect for their teachers and treated them as their parents and King.

Where have we lost it?

Long before the British rule gurukuls were the preferred from of education, even in the time of Mughal rule; 1556-1707 its peak years, to the later years when Mughal power dwindled till the eventual arrival of British rule, gurukul system existed and flourished. During the colonial times, the British imported their centralized system of industrial era education while systematically de-emphasized the importance and usage of Vedic education system. The modern education system is India is established by British, introduced by Lord Thomas Macaulay in 1830 and later by Wood’s Magna Carta of Indian education in 1854. Teaching was confined to the class rooms, connection with nature was broken and the close relationship between student and teacher was also lost. It was left to Dayananda Saraswati; the founder of Arya Samaj and Swami Shraddanand, to pioneer the modern gurukul system, they founded Dayananda Anglo-Vedic Public School and Universities in 1886 A.D. Then in 1948 Shastriji Maharaj Dharanjivan Das Swami initiated the first Swaminarayan Gurukul in Rajkot, Gujarat. But sadly, instead of following its own roots the modern education system of independent India carried on the track of Western style of Education, which is based on text books and examination. The teacher lost their right to decide what to teach and how to teach. This type of educational practice eventually narrows the area of knowledge, because to pass exams students just needed to memorize the contents, without understanding it properly.   

Need of the hour

In present times where the news of school shootings, drug addictions, overexposure to sex, smoking, alcoholism, incidents of rape, committing suicide at a very young age and showing disrespect toward elders and others are common. Incorporating Vedic education; which is the core of India’s culture and rich heritage, in the modern education system will help the student to achieve the following benefits: ideal of perfect mastery over senses, to erect the ideal of truth, liberty, equality, peace and unity. This will intern help in bringing back the true essence of guru-shishya tradition in the modern education system, because the ultimate aim of Vedic system of education is the development of personality and character of the student. And correct the prevailing wrong precedent, which is, ‘education in India is linked sorely to employment.’